Basket



April 2,1929.

W. F. PATTEN BASKET Filed Aug. lO, 1926 IN ve/vof. W ZT Pae/v.

K BY ./wwg

ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 2, gQ. Y i* WELLINGTON n. PATTEN, 0F' CALYistJ, NORTH CAROLINA.

Application'fled August 10, 1926. Serial No. 128,389.

My present invention relates'ge'nerally to baskets and more particularly tofruit packing); baskets, myv object being directed more particularly to the bottoms'of splint baskets of that type in which the surrounding` wall and bottom are formed separately, both of splints, in order to provide fora maximum and eflicient circulation of fair for the better preservation of the fruitpacked therein.

Baskets of the above type have been found in use far superior tov the type of basket.-

vwhere the splints are crossed at Athe .bottom and carried across the bottom and continued up the sides, from the standpoint of preservation of the fruit, and stacking in cars, wagons or other vehicle of transportation. Up to the present time, however, one disadvantage of thattype of'baskets, where the bottom was made separate from the body or wall of the basket, has been that the bottomshave a tendency to sag and pull away from or fall through the base of the basket body.

It is the principle object of my invention to provide a splint basket having a splint bottom, the splints of which are so arranged and connected that they mutually conoperat'e in such bracing relation as to defeat the above and preserve the ybasket as a whole when fruit is packed therein and the basket tightly closed, andl a still further object is the provision of. meansforming such a connection between the splint. bottom andthe body of the basket asito prevent the bottom from displacement.

ln the 'accompanying drawingsv which illustrate my present invention and forms a part of this speciiication,

Figure 1 is a perspectivefview illustrating my improved basket as a whole, the side of the basket being partly broken away',l to e expose a portion of the bottom thereof,

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical cross sec#` tion through the lower portion of the basket including the splint bottom, and Figure 3 is a top plan view Vof the splint bottom.

Referring now to ,these figures, and parl ticularly to Fig. 1,V my invention has to do with that type of splint basket in which vthe body is formed of a seriesof spaced apart upright splints connected at their separate ends by inner and outer rings or hoops 11 and 12 attached to one another by staples or the like 13,: pa'ssingthrough the upper vends of the uprig trsplints 10.' Handles 14 at diametrically opposedfpoints may alsov assist in securing the inner and'outer hoops 11 and 12 as shown. f

Intermediate the upper and lower ends ,of the splints they may be braced by an en! circlingl hoop 15 secured to the splints by staples 16, while at their lower ends the splints 10 are connected, asbest seen in,

Fig. 2, to'inner and outer hoops orrings "17 andly to which they are securely fastened by staples 19.

Theinner hoop 17jat the base of the,

basket forms a support for vthe peripheral portion of the vbottomwhich, as proposed by myy invention, includespairs of splints 2O and 21, the pairs of vsplints crossingone another at right angles off center with respect tothe axis of the bottom]V The splints of each of these pairs are in the parallel spaced apart relation shown, and another pair of splints 22and 23 cross the iirsty mentioned pair 1 of splints. These splints 22 and 23 cross one 'another at right angles in the center of the bottom andalso cross the first mentioned pairs of splints 2O e and 21, where the latter cross one another.

Moreover', the splints 22 andi 23are placed above the pairs of splints and 21 and are securely fastened to the latter where they that'the various splints 20, 21, 22 and 23 lcrossthe same by means of staples 24, so

with their ends disposed upon the linner' hook 17v of the basket body, mutually cooperate with and brace one another so as to prevent sagging of the bottom under pressure, and all danger of its pullingvaway from the basket body due to the strength thereof. My invention also proposes fasteners of angular form indicated at 25, securely fastened to the ends of the upper' splints 22 and 23,the fasteners consisting of angular plates having depending'portions which, in practice, areextended downwardly between the lower ends of the vupright splints 10 and the inner bottom supporting hoop 17 and positioned to receive therethrough the staples 19 securing` the inner and outer bottom hoops `17 yand 18 and thelower ends of the upright splints l0 together.y

I have found that a basket bottomsuch as proposed by my invention may .be economically manufactured, will be strong,` and durable and will entirely obviate the known disadvantage of this typeI of fruit package.

li claim 1. A basket having side staves, a hoop liaying one end of eaeli stave secured to the outer periphery thereof, a plurality o cross slats forming a bottom and adapted to have their ends supported by the said hoop, means for securing the slats to the hoopA `comprising,v a cross slat superimposed over the other Cross slats, `angle Amembers secured to the ends of said superimposed slat to extend parallel with said Side staves, and means for securing` said angle members to said side staves.

2. A basket having side staves, an outer hoop 'formed of a plurality of thin strips around the lower end of saifl staves, an inner hoop Composedl of overlapping thin strips on tlie inside of said sta-Ves, a bottom resting` on said inner hoop, angle members secured to said bottom and extending between the staves and an adjacent strip forming a part of the inne;l hoop, andV a common means `for securing lthe angle mem-l bers, hoops and stavestogether. y

VVEL'LINGTON F. PATTEN. 

